other teams should follow lotus's road of hiring one paid driver who is reliable and fast and can deliver then the money comes from racking up the points and podiums , the only team going that way is force india , sauber and williams are in deep fairy cakes of paying drivers

other teams should follow lotus's road of hiring one paid driver who is reliable and fast and can deliver then the money comes from racking up the points and podiums , the only team going that way is force india , sauber and williams are in deep fairy cakes of paying drivers

Neither Kobayashi or (next year) Hulkenberg is a pay driver though? As for FI, I'm not too sure if you can compare Raikkonen, who is a former WDC with huge fan base, to Di Resta in terms of performance level and commercial value. Caterham this year and Marussia have been doing pretty much what you said. However, when the car is less than decent, the policy doesn't seem to work in the same way. I understand where you're coming from but Lotus is in a rather unique position, IMO.

Having the investment capital group running them probably pays off in this respect as they have a lot of contacts in America as that is where a lot of their business is done, also genii also owning gravity group i think it is or capital group which is ran by boullier and manages a lot of drivers including a certain rogro and D'amb too means they basically have a great infrastructure for driver talent, commercial exposure, business structure will in sure lead to a very successful team. Lets face it fingers in so many pies mean they will get everything computer systems and all its infrastructure by Microsoft, they wont be paying over the odds for any drivers they will have the best deal possible. People in other sports complain of investment groups owning sports tems but f1 is where it could work and thrive if done correctly not like hrt

Well hopefully a US company getting in will usher in a US based F1 team and drivers.

A good driver would be a great place to start...I don't even know if there are any potentials in the lower formulae...

I don't know about good (there's only one way to find out really), but there are a few American drivers in the lower ranks.

I'd say Alexander Rossi is our best chance at the moment, though Conor Daly could be, too.

There are actually a fairly good amount of Americans in the lower formulae in Europe but, so far, none of them truly stand out, though I'm keeping my eye on Michael Lewis. He was 2nd in his rookie season in Italian F3 last year (losing to a series veteran), and has a win and a few podiums in the F3 Euroseries this year but has not been a title challenger. Maybe year two will go better for him.

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Contrast where they were in Singapore 2009 and now with sponsors, not a fan of the team but fair play to them and their commercial department. Sauber, Williams, Force India all stuggle to get sponsors.

Coca colaMicrosoftUnileverIf they do have Honeywell, and there are many rumours, they've done very well this year.

I don't think the size of these companies matters. What is important is how much the company pays Lotus. Microsoft is one of the biggest companies involved in F1, but I've never heard that the deal with Lotus is lucrative.

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Coca colaMicrosoftUnileverIf they do have Honeywell, and there are many rumours, they've done very well this year.

I don't think the size of these companies matters. What is important is how much the company pays Lotus. Microsoft is one of the biggest companies involved in F1, but I've never heard that the deal with Lotus is lucrative.

Personally, I think both the size of the company and what they're paying is important. Microsoft may (or may not) be paying less, but they're one of the biggest companies on the planet, so unless the partnership isn't proving beneficial to them, there's no reason they wouldn't be a long-term partner. Whereas a smaller company paying more money might be better in the short-term, but perhaps they wouldn't provide the long-term stability of a Microsoft. Plus seeing the likes of Microsoft and Coca-Cola (albeit under the Burn moniker) backing a team, it must make them more attractive to other potential sponsors.

other teams should follow lotus's road of hiring one paid driver who is reliable and fast and can deliver then the money comes from racking up the points and podiums , the only team going that way is force india , sauber and williams are in deep fairy cakes of paying drivers

I agreeWilliams really could have beaten Force India this year with the car they had I feel if they had good drivers. Perhaps even challenged Sauber more evenly..

Coca colaMicrosoftUnileverIf they do have Honeywell, and there are many rumours, they've done very well this year.

I don't think the size of these companies matters. What is important is how much the company pays Lotus. Microsoft is one of the biggest companies involved in F1, but I've never heard that the deal with Lotus is lucrative.

I'm thinking more about the type of sponsor. Big American consumer focused companies. There are rumours of more North and South American races planned, they have one of the four most popular or highest profile drivers in the sport, they could be well placed for the future.

if your implying KK i doubt it, they are a truly global company, an American global company when i say they are huge is an understatement, fortune 100 company should say it all. As was mentioned earlier its not just the amount they pay but parts or infrastructure they provide and the image of having a certain type of company attracts others aswell

So it means lotus will be white with red inscription of "Honeywell"? Because that's their color, and title sponsor always gets the color of the car.

Not always - Ferrari never went Marlboro red/white, McLaren aren't Vodafone coloured all over, Force India have retained their patriotic livery regardless of sponsors. It's debatable how much McLaren going silver was to do with West sponsorship and how much was simply to return to the 'Silver Arrows' image of Mercedes.

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It was my understanding that Lotus wasn't paying much in terms of sponsorship, and that the primary was actually Genni. Does anyone know if they intend on keeping the Lotus tag? technically it's Renault.. so it's a little difficult to explain.

I hope they keep it for bad-ass' sake, but regardless of the name or title sponsor they absolutely must keep that color scheme as it is the sexiest car on the grid.

I must say I gained a lot of respect for Eric Boullier and the Genii folks over the last few years, they were able to save the team from disintegrating after the departure of Pat Symonds and Bob Bell and were able to make some significant progress. Getting new sponsors is a very good sign even though we don't really know how much they bring.

I'd expect deals with established publicly traded companies not to be super lucrative because of their accountability to shareholders. Also Honeywell is not exactly a consumer focused company so I doubt that they are willing to pay a lot to increase their visibility. Still hopefully this should help making the team sustainable without Genii having to pour tens of millions into the team each year.

I think keeping the Lotus name makes sense for now even if they don't get a penny from the Lotus Group. It's an iconic name and it adds appeal to the team both for fans and for sponsors. Unless they find a sponsor/buyer who wants to provide tons of cash for a full rebranding (like Red Bull) it probably makes a lot of sense to keep that name.

the team now neither has the right to name itself renault because it is just an engine deal , nor they can continue with lotus because lotus isn't paying anymore .it should call itself Burn Honeywell Enstone F1 Team

the team now neither has the right to name itself renault because it is just an engine deal , nor they can continue with lotus because lotus isn't paying anymore .it should call itself Burn Honeywell Enstone F1 Team

doesn't matter if there is a payment or not if they have permission and wih to use it for commercial purposes the lotus name has a prestigious place in f1 and surely is good for the commercial side of it.

They didn't have anything to do with Lotus before this, they don't have anything to do with them after. No difference.

They did, the Lotus car company sponsored them, hence them being known as Lotus Renault last year and Lotus this year. Lotus have since stopped giving them money but they keep the name from what I can see.